Itineraries 1day
Drink ‘til You Drop in Saijo!
When it comes to Japanese sake, no place in Hiroshima does better than Saijo! Start your weekend morning in the vicinity of Saijo Station and fill up on breakfast before downing locally produced sake and coffee, one after the other. Take a break for a seafood lunch before doing it all over again and taking home some traditional souvenir foods too. You know what they say: it’s always five o’ clock in Saijo!
Day 1
01 Saijo Station (西条駅)
JR Saijo Station is the gateway to the Saijo area, with all lines of public transportation–trains and busses both–converging on it. Within the station building are railroads leading to both Hiroshima City and Fukuyama, taking a mere 30-something and 60-something minutes by train, respectively. Around the station are souvenir shops, convenience stores, pharmacies, Japanese restaurants, and business hotels, which puts the station in a prime position to be frequented by tourists from within and without Japan.
- Address
- 12-3 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
02 cocoron (ココロン)
Cocoron is a bakery located a five-minute walk from JR Saijo Station. Inside the one-story Japanese-style house, you will find dozens of standard breads such as danishes and croissants. There are also many original breads on the menu, such as “Sake-Kasu Campagne,” in which sake lees are kneaded into the dough, making it a popular bakery with many fans from Hiroshima Prefecture and beyond.
- Address
- 7-33 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
03 Saijo Sakagura-dori District (西条酒蔵通り)
The Saijo Sakagura-dori District is a densely populated area of sake breweries near JR Saijo Station. Along with the Nada area in Hyogo and the Fushimi area in Kyoto, Saijo in Hiroshima is one of the three major sake-producing areas in Japan, where sake has been actively produced since the early 17th century. The sake brewery district has seven sake breweries lined up in a compact area of about one square kilometer. At each of the sake breweries, you can sample delicious Saijo sake, the pride of Hiroshima.
- Address
- 1-14 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
04 Kugurimon Coffee Shop (くぐり門珈琲店)
Kugurimon Coffee Shop is a café on Saijo Sakagura-dori Street. The name “Kugurimon” comes from the unusual design of the building, where the attics of two neighboring houses are connected. It is a traditional Japanese house café that was renovated from an old house built over 80 years ago. On the first floor, the owner sells carefully selected coffee beans from all over the world and specialties of Higashihiroshima, and on the second floor, the café serves coffee brewed with water used to make sake.
- Address
- 17-1 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
05 Suigun no Sato (水軍の郷)
Suigun no Sato, a 7-minute walk from JR Saijo Station, is a restaurant specializing in live fish dishes. There is also a large selection of alcoholic beverages to go with the fish dishes. The restaurant also offers a wide selection of sake, which naturally includes the famous Saijo Sake, which adds a unique taste of Saijo to your seafood feast.
- Address
- 7-27, Saijo Oka-cho, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
06 Shusenkan (酒泉館)
Shusenkan is a sake bar run by Kamoizumi Shuzo, one of Saijo’s sake breweries, and is housed in a retro Western-style building built in 1929 as a sake brewery. For those who are new to sake, the “Sake Drinking Set” is a popular choice, where you can compare several kinds of sake. The restaurant is only open on Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays. Please note that the shop is not open on weekdays or during the Obon and New Year holidays.
- Address
- 2-4 Saijo Kami-ichi-cho, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
07 Sakuraya Snack Warehouse (お菓子の蔵さくらや)
Sakuraya Snack Warehouse (Okashi-no-kura Sakuraya as it is known in Japanese) is a Japanese sweets shop located in Saijo, Higashihiroshima City. The store sells elegantly sweet Japanese confections such as “barrel monaka” and “bottle monaka,” in which sake lees and sake are mixed into the bean jam, and “Saijo Sakagura Dori,” in which sake is kneaded into the dough. They also sell sponge cakes with honey, and Western-style baked goods such as “Spica-chan Tamago Senbei” (egg crackers), part of the proceeds of which are donated to animal welfare activities.
- Address
- 11-27 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Transportation: Hiroshima Station [JR Sanyo Line, ~40 minutes]
08 Hiroshima Gyoza Hiroshima Station ekie Store (ひろしまギョウザ広島駅エキエ店)
The Hiroshima Gyoza Hiroshima Station ekie Store is a gyoza (pan-fried dumpling) bar managed by Gyozaya Ryu, a gyoza specialty chain store that represents Hiroshima. Because it is located inside the ekie complex attached to Hiroshima Station, it’s easily accessible by tourists to Hiroshima or those about to leave Hiroshima Prefecture. The interior is completely furnished with counter seating and standing tables, all of which are a great fit for a post-dinner round of drinks. Thanks to it being directly connected to the JR lines and being open late, it’s a popular establishment crowded with folks enjoying beer and gyoza on the weekend.
- Address
- 2-1 Matsubara-cho, Minami Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Stumble back to your hotel in Hiroshima City for the night.
Saijo Station (西条駅)
12-3 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
cocoron (ココロン)
7-33 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Saijo Sakagura-dori District (西条酒蔵通り)
1-14 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Kugurimon Coffee Shop (くぐり門珈琲店)
17-1 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Suigun no Sato (水軍の郷)
7-27, Saijo Oka-cho, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Shusenkan (酒泉館)
2-4 Saijo Kami-ichi-cho, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Sakuraya Snack Warehouse (お菓子の蔵さくらや)
11-27 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN
Hiroshima Gyoza Hiroshima Station ekie Store (ひろしまギョウザ広島駅エキエ店)
2-1 Matsubara-cho, Minami Ward, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, JAPAN